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10 Years After Katrina: New Orleans School System Still in Flux, Report Says

New Orleans' education system has undergone a dramatic transformation since Hurricane Katrina hit nearly 10 years ago, and a new report out today says the system is still in flux.

After the storm hit, the levees failed, and the city flooded, the state moved in and took over most of New Orleans' schools. Today, more than 90 percent of the city's students now attend charter schools—more than any other city in the nation.

That last item has been especially dynamic as the state-run Recovery School District and the original Orleans Parish School Board are continually adapting to an increasingly decentralized system of schools.

Although the report's authors write that there are benefits to this new governance structure, specifically the autonomy it gives schools, they acknowledge "the decentralization of governance also presents challenges for schools. RSD, OPSB, and charter schools have to creatively tackle system-wide challenges collectively, such as providing services for students with special needs or mental health issues."

The report predicts long-term governance will remain an issue for the foreseeable future—specifically whether the RSD will remain the dominant entity overseeing most of the city's schools, or if more will return to the oversight of the OPSB.

To date, only one school has opted to do so.

The Cowen Institute was founded in 2007 expressly to analyze New Orleans' transitioning system and releases this report annually, albeit this year's analysis is more in-depth and retrospective.

"The goal is to have all this information and data about the education system in one place," said Vincent Rossmeier, the institute's policy director. "The data doesn't all come out at the same time of the year, and we want to create a guide."

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